8 men own half the world’s wealth — Oxfam

LONDON, United Kingdom — Eight men own the same wealth as half the world’s population, a level of inequality which “threatens to pull our societies apart”, Oxfam said on Monday ahead of the World Economic Forum opening in Davos.

The wealth of the world’s poorest 3.6 billion people is the equivalent to the combined net worth of six American businessmen, one from Spain and another from Mexico.

Picked from Forbes’ billionaires list, they include Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg who co-founded Facebook, and Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.


Oxfam pointed to a link between the vast gap between rich and poor and growing discontent with mainstream politics around the world.

“From Brexit to the success of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, a worrying rise in racism and the widespread disillusionment with mainstream politics, there are increasing signs that more and more people in rich countries are no longer willing to tolerate the status quo,” Oxfam said in its new report, “An economy for the 99 percent”.

The charity said new data on wealth distribution from countries such as India and China had prompted it to revise its own calculation, having said a year ago the wealth of half the world’s population was in the hands of 62 people.

Inequality will be among the issues topping the agenda as the world’s political and business elite meet in Davos from Tuesday until Friday, when 3,000 people will gather for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.

“Responsive and responsible leadership” has been chosen as the theme of the summit, which organisers said was a response to a “backlash against globalization leading to two surprising vote results and a rise in populism in the West”.

In its report Oxfam called for an increase in tax rates targeting “rich individuals and cooperations”, as well as a global agreement to end competition between countries to lower corporate tax rates.

The charity also decried lobbying by corporations and the closeness of business and politics, calling for mandatory public lobby registries and stronger rules on conflicts of interest. CBB

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Richest 1 percent will own more than the rest by 2016 – Oxfam

LONDON - More than half the world's wealth will be owned by just one percent of the population by next year as global inequality soars, anti-poverty charity Oxfam said on Monday.

In a report released ahead of this week's annual meeting of the international elite at Davos in Switzerland, Oxfam said the top tier had seen their share of wealth increase from 44 percent in 2009 to 48 percent in 2014.

On current trends, it will exceed 50 percent in 2016.

The charity's executive director, Winnie Byanyima, who is co-chairing the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, said an explosion in inequality was holding back the fight against poverty.

"Do we really want to live in a world where the one percent own more than the rest of us combined?" she said on Monday.

"Business as usual for the elite isn't a cost free option. Failure to tackle inequality will set the fight against poverty back decades. The poor are hurt twice by rising inequality—they get a smaller share of the economic pie and because extreme inequality hurts growth, there is less pie to be shared around."

Oxfam said it would call for action to tackle rising inequality at the Davos meeting, which starts on Wednesday, including a crackdown on tax dodging by corporations and progress towards a global deal on climate change.

The richest 80 individuals in the world had the same wealth as the poorest 50 percent of the entire population, some 3.5 billion people, Oxfam said. This was an even bigger concentration at the top than a year ago, when half the world's wealth was in the hands of 85 of the ultra rich.

Members of the top 1 percent had an average wealth of $2.7 million per adult, Oxfam said.

The bulk of the world's remaining wealth was owned by the rest of the richest fifth, while the other 80 percent shared just 5.5 percent of the pot, equalling an average wealth of $3,851 per adult, it said.

Oxfam used data from the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Datebook, 2013 and 2014, and the Forbes' billionaires list to compile its research. — Reuters

Food and drink industry makes progress on development – Oxfam

BERLIN – Many of the world's top food and drink companies are taking steps to improve their social and environmental impact on poor countries, although there is still much more to do, development group Oxfam said on Wednesday.

Oxfam launched its "Behind the Brands" campaign a year ago to try to assess the real impact of food and drink companies on the countries where they source raw materials, especially given a proliferation of public commitments to sustainability.

Oxfam said the companies it ranked as most responsible – Nestle, Unilever and Coca-Cola – had extended their lead over the others, while General Mills had replaced Associated British Foods in last place.

Big food and beverage companies have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years over their sourcing of raw materials, courting criticism on issues ranging from child labor on cocoa farms to the impact of palm oil plantations on rain forests.

Oxfam said its campaign had been helped by thousands of consumers bombarding brands with messages calling for action as well as a joint statement from 31 investment funds representing nearly $1.5 trillion of assets reiterating the Oxfam demands.

"Those that are not moving fast enough will pay a price with the public, investors and communities in the field," Chris Jochnick, director of Oxfam's private sector work, told Reuters.

"Those companies that move first should see benefits in long-term access to sustainable supply chains which should be reflected in their share price."

Oxfam said the biggest 10 food and beverage companies it studied had huge impact given that their annual revenues of more than $450 billion are equivalent to the national income of all the world's low-income countries combined.

Oxfam ranked the firms on their policies in areas it sees as critical to sustainable agriculture: women, small-scale farmers, farm workers, water, land, climate change and transparency.

Reputational concern

Nestle came first, Unilever second, Coca-Cola third, Mondelez International and PepsiCo joint fourth, Mars and Danone joint sixth, Kellogg Co. eighth, AB Foods ninth and General Mills in 10th place.

Jochnick said General Mills had lost ground due to a lower score for transparency as it was not publishing as much information as before on its water policies.

General Mills said it had a strong focus on sustainability and believed its efforts merited a better score, noting the Oxfam score was based only on publicly available information.

"We are working to conserve and protect the resources upon which our business depends around the world, and we continue to improve our products and practices broadly across our supply chain," it said in an emailed statement.

AB Foods said it had taken note of the report and that the company was working hard to ensure suppliers met the highest ethical standards. "We continue to place ethical behavior and practice at the heart of what we do," a spokesman said.

Oxfam said the biggest improvements in company policies had come on policies over land, gender equality and climate change.

"What initially sparks companies' attention is reputational concern but as they dig into these issues they have started to find financial reasons to do the right thing," Jochnick said. – Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com